Weekend in Waegwan

I met a guy a couple of times at a Psycho, the foreigner bar in Gumi, and he is an American soldier who is stationed at Camp Carroll in Waegwan. [For whatever reason all the American Military bases in Korea are called "Camps" and since there are something like 33,000 American Soldiers posted in South Korea whenever you go out to foreigner clubs you will meet some of these guys.]

Waegwan is about a 10 minute train ride from Gumi heading South in the direction of Daegu. So, after meeting a couple of times and chatting [in Psycho] he gives me his e-mail and cell phone number and we start sending text messages back and forth. We decide to we want to meet and spend sometime together. So, one Saturday he invites me to meet him at the train station in Waegwan. This is a good landmark so that we can easily meet up with each other. This is our starting point for exploring the local area.

So, once again, I am off to have a new adventure here in Korea.

I arrive at the Waegwan Train Station. It is, both, the beginning and end of my trip.

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I should admit that I didn't spend the weekend in Waegwan I actually only spent a Saturday exploring it with my new soldier friend but some how a title like "Saturday in Waegwan" just doesn't have the same ring to it as "Weekend in Waegwan" with its alliteration.
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My friend offers me the chance to go onto Camp Carroll [the American Military Base] and look around but still not knowing him that well I decide we should just explore the town. [I tell him that next time I will let him sign me on the base and he can show me around his "home away from home" and that we can go to Anthony's Pizza and eat American fast food.] And, since I now speak some Korean and he speaks none we find a lot of interesting places that he has never seen before even though he lives in the area.

We walk around the market area of Waegwan and I found one of my favorite things in Korea - a coffee vending machine. For around 300 won [like 30 some cents Canadian] you can get a small coffee. This vending machine is a little different as it offers cans of drinks and lotto tickets, too. I have never bought a lotto ticket in Korea cause I have never been able to figure out how to check my numbers.

At the market we see this crate of baby chicks that have been dyed. The poor little things I wonder if the process of dying them results in the dye running in their eyes and blinding them or at least hurting their eyes. Koreans don't really celebrate Easter so this wasn't some sort of a display for Easter or anything like that. Wonder if Korea has an SPCA? Looking at these chicks I'm guessing they don't.

Walking around the market we see this old man selling fresh veggies.

I see this in the inner courtyard of a Korean house we walk by. It appears to be an oven. What you need to know is that Korean houses and apartments don't have ovens. Normally, there are only two gas burners. I guess it's because Koreans don't eat many baked goods but instead eat rice and lots of vegetables so therefore they don't need ovens. In fact, for the most part you can't even buy bread at a corner or convenience store you have to go to a either a bakery or a big supermarket. So, I wonder why this house had an oven. I found it most interesting.